Shamrock Farms Easter Egg Hunt

Last Sunday we made the drive to visit Shamrock Farms for an Easter Egg Hunt. Last time we went to the farm was in December for a Santa Visit (here). When we first got there the kids got to play a few games before we headed out on the tour. While we were viewing the cows being milked the tour staff placed out eggs on the playground for all of the kids. It was really well planned because each kid was only allowed to get 10 eggs. This is great since we have little ones that aren't as fast as the older kids. They also gave them this little trick ice cream cone as a prize and she loved that. She actually broke it this morning...but I think we can fix it. After the tour we tried to sneak in a quick picture with the Easter bunny. It wasn't great, but better than Santa. Everly also got a balloon animal kitty and everyone got chocolate milk to drink while opening their eggs. Considering the tour costs $9 a person and it is a whole morning of fun activities, I would say it is totally worth the drive! I am sure we will be back!

 

 

Sometimes she throws like such a girl, but not this morning. She was getting a bunch in the buckets!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Admittedly, that is a creepy looking bunny.

 

 

Right before she spilled the chocolate milk all down the front of her.

Disney on Ice: 100 Years of Magic

A week ago we took the kids to Disney on Ice as an Easter present from my mom. This was Everly's third time seeing Disney on Ice (she has gone twice before as Christmas gifts). Those shows were both more princess related shows but this was more of a generic Disney show so it was perfect for the boys first Disney on Ice. Doing anything with 3 kids under 3 is never EASY, but there were 5 of us adults there so we  at least outnumbered them! The week before up until the ride there I kept trying to explain to Everly where we were going. In the car on the way there she was holding Jesse from Toy Story and a Snow White Barbie and I made her leave them in the car. As we shut the door she said, "Bye Jessie, bye Show White. We're going to Disney on Ice." Haha! She finally got it! When we walked into the arena she just gasped and covered her mouth. She was so excited to see her aunts and just to be there, and the show hadn't even started.

Disney got her hooked at a young age and I am not even mad. It is awesome to see her love something so much! She did really great at the show. She got totally spoiled too. Grandma bought the babies popcorn to share and she loves popcorn. Grandma also bought her one of those ridiculous spinney light up toys. She loved it, but I didn't so after the show we traded it in for a Woody plush so Jesse would have a friend, haha. She has been on a Toy Story kick for a while and constantly alternates between all 3 movies on the ipad. She passed out pretty quickly on the ride home after that! Thanks Grandma for a fun day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Last year Everly was still a little young at Easter but this year she is understanding things a lot more. Our little subdivision has a pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt every year and despite having a million other things going on last Saturday, we decided to go. I am glad we did. It was very low-key and she had a blast. She enjoyed her pancakes but she loved the sausage even more and the juice too! She loves juice because we don't usually give her any. She is really starting to get the hang of running to pick up the eggs and put them in her basket. She loves opening up all of the eggs afterwards also. It was a lot of fun and I am definitely going to miss things like this when we leave this neighborhood next month (still doesn't quite feel real).

 

 

 

 

 

It's a...

Girl!!!

 

 

We found out last week that baby Larkins #2 is a girl. We had a name ready because, well, I like to plan. Her name will be Aspen Ann Larkins. There are a couple reasons why we had picked Aspen. I had never really thought of it as a name option but one of the millions of kids on Sister Wives (yes, I watch that) is named Aspyn and I liked it. Out honeymoon was also in Apsen, CO (and it is not creepy because we obviously did not conceive her there) so it really fits perfect. Depsite the lots of "y's" in my family, we are not spelling it with a y. We both really loved our little trip to Aspen and it was totally different and new for both of us and I just can't think of a more perfect name. Of course, I also like that it has not cracked the top 500 most popular names for girls ever (Everly was not even in the top 1000 until 2012 and now that Channing Tatum named his daughter Everly almost a year ago it has probably shot up even more). I am a fan of names that are different but not weird and I think that Aspen is going to be a pretty cool girl.

 

We found out on Thursday at my anatomy ultrasound and then had to keep it a secret until our gender reveal party on Saturday night. This was not something that we did with my pregnancy with Everly so I am really glad we got our crap together enough to have a little party for Aspen (especially since the second child tends to get shafted a little...I am also a second child). We didn't even tell Everly because we didn't trust her to keep the secret, haha. Everyone in both of our families (except for my brother) was able to attend. That was kind of a miracle because we both come from big families. We had the party at my sister's house because our house is currently listed for sale. Once everyone was there we had them pick pink or blue beads to wear depending on what they thought we were having. Blue was the popular choice. Everly absolutely loves being around all of her family. She was running like crazy in the backyard and having a blast. We opened up a box of balloons in front of everyone to tell the surprise. I think my Mom was most surprised because she had bought a boy onesie...haha. I really had no idea or expectations. There are ways this pregnancy is the same and different but I am also so much different now than I was with Everly so who knows!

 

After the reveal we had lasagna and salad with some garlic caprese bread. My mom made beef lasagna, and we made turkey and veggie lasagna. We have a diverse group of eaters...haha. We had cupcakes for dessert with pink frosting inside. Everything went really well and now I can't wait to officially start planning another girl nursery. Then I start to think about all of Everly's old stuff I have to go through and I get overwhelmed a little...haha. Here are some pictures from the party.

 



It should have been no surprise...

She makes a mean cheese plate

Uncle Mark and Katy's boyfriend Alex were Everly's favorite to play with

 

 

 

 

The spread

We also used this party to ask my sister and her husband to be Aspen's godparents by making cute little cards. They said yes!

 

Easter Egg Hunt #1 of 4

I swear, if these kids are not pros at finding Easter eggs by the time Easter is over this year, we are in trouble. Everly had her first of 4 Easter Egg hunts last weekend ant a little party that my sister's therapist put on for all of her clients. Her next two will be this weekend, one in our neighborhood, and one at Shamrock Farms where we are going on a tour again Sunday. The last will actually be on Easter Sunday. This first one was at a park that is super close to my house that I had no idea about. Well, I knew the park was there because I have run by it before, but it was always dark. It is a special park that has been designed for kids and adults with special needs. They even have a public swimming pool with wheelchair access that you cannot use unless you are with someone with special needs. I know my sister was really excited about that. The kids got to decorate little bags to put their eggs in and then all of the eggs had little prized like stickers and bouncy balls instead of candy, which is good because Everly really doesn't ever eat candy (except for 1 m&m when she attempts to use the potty). It was definitely a fun morning and I can't wait to see how she does this weekend!

Cam on the big boy swing.

 

Teddy was almost falling asleep in that swing.

 

 

 

Cam is totally covered in dirt here!

So independent sometimes

Everly in the Kitchen- Enchiladas



Everly is in a stage where she absolutely loves helping out in the kitchen. Mostly she helps Justin because he does most of the cooking but every once in a while she helps me or she likes to pretend she is cleaning the dishes (but she is really just splashing in the water). She really just loves to help. She loves to feed the dogs and give them treats, she loves to help dust or sweep when we are cleaning, and if I am on the couch and get cold, she will totally get up and turn the fan off, haha.

 

Last night we had enchiladas which Justin made in advance so all we had to do was put the enchilada sauce and cheese on and put it in the oven. When I asked for her help, she said, "please, please, please, my ladder." She has a little ladder we let her use in the kitchen and she loves it. When she says "please" in the beginning and wipes her hands on her self, that is her lazy way of signing "please." I love how she spreads the cheese on so delicately too, haha. Justin said she is a pro from helping him make pizzas. It's pretty cute, especially at the end when all she wants to do is eat the cheese!

 

Pregnancy #2- 18 Weeks

 

 

I haven't really shared too much about this second pregnancy yet and I definitely want to document it so might as well start now. I am currently 18 weeks pregnant and later this week we get to find out the gender! We will be having a little gender reveal party for our family and I will share pics after that. I am pretty excited to know the gender because we have two names so I can't wait to know which one it will be. Also, I can't wait to be able to tell Everly what the baby is. Currently, whenever we ask her if it is a brother or a sister she always says sister. We really don't care either way, we just want to know. I am feeling pretty good right now. I have been able to stay active 5-6 days a week which is something I did not do with my first pregnancy (I quit soccer at 9 weeks and would occasionally hike and go on walks, but that was it). I had some nausea in the beginning along with heartburn, but I never actually threw up, so that's good. It also didn't happen in the morning, which is when I workout, so it didn't interrupt that either. I have recently started to feel more pressure and back soreness, but nothing crazy. I probably just need to get a maternity support belt for running. I do feel movement, but nothing on the outside yet. My skin did not respond well to pregnancy last time and it has started back up again this time. Good thing is, it completely cleared up a few months after delivery so if crappy skin means I get a healthy baby, then I guess it is all worth it. I am not sure if that means I am going to have another girl or not but we will find out soon. I have been much better with my hydration this pregnancy and hopefully that prevents the swelling I got in my third trimester last time! I am trying to enjoy being pregnant, but sometimes it hits me and I am like, wait a minute, I am going to get really big and uncomfortable so that stinks. Also, I haven't decided yet whether or not I want to attempt a drug-free childbirth and so that is a little scary. I just feel like I have so much research to do because I didn't even consider it as an option with my first pregnancy. I think that no matter how you deliver, carrying and delivering a baby is a pretty crazy thing that any women should be proud of but for some reason I feel like exploring a more natural route this time. We will see what I decide as I research more!